1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer ceramic electronic component and particularly relates to a multilayer ceramic electronic component including a ceramic element body, in which internal electrodes are provided, and external electrodes arranged on end surfaces of the ceramic element body so as to be electrically connected to respective ones of the internal electrodes. For example, the present invention relates to a multilayer ceramic capacitor, a multilayer ceramic inductor, a multilayer ceramic thermistor, or a multilayer ceramic piezoelectric component.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-284343, a generally known multilayer electronic component includes external electrodes formed on both end surfaces of a ceramic element body in which internal electrodes are provided to be exposed in the surfaces of the ceramic element body, the external electrodes each including a sintered electrode layer containing a metal as a main component, a conductive resin electrode layer formed on the surface the sintered electrode layer and containing metal particles, and a plating layer formed on the surface of the conductive resin electrode layer. In the multilayer ceramic electronic component, the conductive resin electrode layer is formed between the sintered electrode layer and the plating layer, thereby resolving to some extent the problem of cracks being caused in the ceramic element body due to a temperature cycle during use and the problem of weakening resistance to deflection of a substrate when the multilayer ceramic electric component is mounted on the substrate.
However, the general multilayer ceramic electronic component described above has low adhesive force between the conductive resin electrode layer containing a large amount of resin and the sintered electrode layer composed of a metal. Therefore, deflection of a substrate on which the multilayer ceramic electronic component is mounted is absorbed by the conductive resin electrode layer, but the low adhesive force between the conductive resin electrode layer and the sintered electrode layer causes the problem of separation between the conductive resin electrode layer and the sintered electrode layer.